A University of Edinburgh medical student start-up company has won top UK honours in the Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards' postgraduate category.

The company, EoSurgical, founded by Paul Brennan and Roland Partridge, both PhD students and trainee surgeons at the University of Edinburgh, designs and manufactures training tools for surgeons to improve their operative skills.

The company has been supported by LAUNCH.ed, the University of Edinburgh's free support service for entrepreneurs.

EoSurgical was awarded a £20,000 first prize in the competition, and follows on from wins earlier this year in the Scottish Institute for Enterprise New Ventures Competition and a second place in the University of Edinburgh's Innovation Cup.

In total, 55 universities were invited to participate in this year's Santander Universities Entrepreneurship Awards, which recognise the top undergraduate and postgraduate start-up businesses to come out of universities in the past five years.

Paul Brennan said: “After a hectic few months working with the LAUNCH.ed team to develop our business strategy, it's fantastic to win the Santander Universities competition.

“To be selected for the £20,000 first prize from the 60 best university start-ups in the UK is a great endorsement of the company and its strategy, but also the quality of the support we've received from LAUNCH.ed.”

Co-founder Roland Partridge added: "We are thrilled to have secured this prestigious award.

“We are committed to providing accessible training tools for surgeons to improve their operative skills, and this prize is a great encouragement and will be invaluable in helping us succeed.

“This is a crucial phase as we start to build our publicity campaign and prepare for the full launch of our first product, the EoSo, in August.”